Two Sides Of The Same Heart
by Angel Shirai
Summary: I'm right here:: When Kairi is plagued with a question from Riku, she can't help but try to contact her Nobody, Namine, but it only ends in failure. My take of Namine's special power. Hints of SoKai


**Two Sides Of The Same Heart**

'_Namine, are you there? Can you hear me?_'

Kairi sighed frustratingly, raking a hand through her perfectly tousled bed hair as she sat up to be bathed by the morning sun. The Seventh Princess of Hearts had been lying in bed, awake, for the past two hours trying to contact her 'other half'. So far, all she heard were her own thoughts fluttering around in her head. There was neither hide nor hair of her Nobody.

"Kairi! Are you still in bed? Just because it's a Saturday doesn't mean you can sleep all day long! Get up, the food is going to get cold, and I'm not bringing a plate up to your room for you!"

The redhead groaned, throwing her blankets to the side and swinging her legs over the bed to touch the carpeted floor. With the normalcy of her everyday life, Kairi quickly freshened up and got dressed to head downstairs. A plate of still-warm eggs and bacon was set on the table for her, ready to be devoured. Kairi ate slowly, taking a sip of the glass of orange juice beside her every now and then. Once finished, she placed the plate in the sink and grabbed her purple shoes, heading for the door.

"Kairi, where are you going?" Her foster mother asked, hands on her hips and a stern look in her eyes. Kairi rolled her eyes, her back to her mother.

"Just out to the island. I'll be back before dinnertime." The girl answered. Her mother raised a brow, walking closer to see her daughter tie her shoelaces and then wind them around the skin above her shoes. Clucking her tongue in disapproval of the strange sense of fashion, Kairi's mother merely sighed and turned back to walk to the sink.

"Well, alright. It's been awhile since you've gone there, sweetie. A special occasion?" Her mother asked. Kairi paused from opening the door, wondering if she should tell her the truth or lie through her teeth. She decided to not worry her mother, and opted to give her a little white lie.

"No, not really. I just felt like it, since I used to go there a lot about a year ago." The princess answered, turning the doorknob of her front door. Hearing her mother bid her farewell, the teenager stepped out into the sun and made her way to the docks. She waved to a few neighbours and some people she knew from school, though she did not stop to talk to any of them.

Nearing the docks, Kairi spotted a wooden fishing boat and set out to climb into that, unhooking it from the planks and rowing it out to sea. A few other boats were missing, and Kairi thought it must've been the fishers and the few kids that went to the island with the secret cave. Absentmindedly, Kairi thought if Sora and Riku were there. The thought was gone as quickly as it came.

Instead, using the time to paddle to the island from her child days, Kairi's thoughts began to drift. They went straight back to Namine, her Nobody, and Kairi had tried to call the other half once more. Still, nothing. The redhead had been trying since two days ago, and the reason for that was when Riku decided to open his big mouth.

* * *

"_Hey, you know what I've been wondering?"_

_The three of them were lounging around on the main island, at the shore. They had unconsciously decided it was a reminiscing day, and converged at the docks. They began to talk about the great adventures they had, together and apart. Kairi could be filled in on the important details, and she finally understood the full scope of the story. All of them found out something new about their great journey, and a feeling of nostalgia had settled around them._

"_What, Riku?" Kairi asked, leaning forward to turn her head to the right. With her head in that position, it was easier to see Riku's full face. To help, Sora leaned back on his hands, giving her a bit more room. The oldest of the three turned to stare at Sora and Kairi, a thoughtful expression on his face._

"_Why did Namine get her special power?" Riku asked, crossing his arms to get into a more thoughtful pose. "I mean, Roxas was able to hold two keyblades because Sora's a keyblade master. But why is Namine able to control Sora's heart and his memories? I'm thinking it probably has something to do with Kairi, but I can't seem to come up with any sort of valid reason."_

_Sora and Kairi looked at each other, also now puzzled over the question. Riku brought up a good point. Sure, Sora had special feelings for Kairi and they were extremely close friends, but that doesn't exactly give a very good reason for her Nobody to be able to control something so serious like a persons heart, let alone the keyblade master's. Riku is also Sora's best friend, so hypothetically his Nobody should be able to control Sora's heart too (not that Riku has a Nobody)._

"_I… I don't know." Sora muttered, stroking his chin. Kairi shook her head._

"_Me neither."_

_The three of them shrugged, and Riku sighed, scratching the back of his head._

"_Well, just forget it, okay? It's not really all that important. What's important is that we're finally home." Riku said, chuckling. The other two smiled at him, nodding their heads in unison. But that question couldn't help but keep gnawing at Kairi's thoughts._

_Why__** was**__ Namine able to manipulate Sora's heart?_

* * *

Kairi sighed softly to herself, tying a rope around the plank to secure the boat to the docks. Stretching her arms to relieve some of the tension generated by all that rowing, Kairi jumped onto the sand and began to walk a little ways down the beach. She settled herself near the shore, bringing her knees up to her chest to rest her chin on her knees. Vaguely, she could hear the soft sound of the waves and a few kids playing in the clubhouse. With a little smile, Kairi let herself fall backwards onto the sand, spreading her arms and legs out like a star.

Above her, a few clouds lazily strolled by, and she could see nothing but the endless blue sky. A name flitted through her head, and she allowed her eyes to flutter close, eyelashes resting shyly on her cheeks. Through her other senses, Kairi was able to feel the gentle breeze passing over her, and she was able to hear the soothing sound of the shore at her feet. Cracking a single eye open, Kairi reached into her pouch and pulled out her lucky charm.

She held it up above her head, seeing the pale yellow fade to a pale pink in the star-like charm. The colours clashed with the blue sky behind them, and Kairi brought her lucky charm close to her. That little cluster of seashells had gone through so much, together with Sora. She could see it had been frequently used, probably as a key chain for his keyblade. Having it with her now made her almost feel as if she had always been there with him. With Sora.

But she hadn't. For an entire year, Kairi was stuck on Destiny Islands, normally going about her life with her other friends and attending school like an ordinary girl. And what was worse was that for a short period of that time, she had begun to forget about him. His face, his name, and the memories of him that she had. All that was left was a lingering feeling of someone extra, someone who stood on the other side of her, along with Riku.

"Namine… where _are _you?"

"She's right here."

Kairi jolted upwards, her eyes snapping open to come face-to-face with the boy whose namesake was the sky.

"Sora!"

He grinned cheekily at her, waving.

"Hi Kairi!"

With a little sigh of exasperation, Kairi watched her best friend plop down on the sand next to her, throwing his arms behind his head. He still looked the same, with the twinkling blue eyes and the wild brown spikes. The same old goofy smile, the same old adorable habits, the same old Sora. Of course, with the added bonus of the title of keyblade master, and the bragging rights of saving the world. Twice.

"You dork, what are you talking about?" Kairi asked, slapping him in the shoulder. "Who's right here? All I see is you, me, and sand." The redhead rolled her eyes at him, staring out at the ocean. Sora sensed her gloomy mood, and smiled his same goofy smile again.

"Namine." Sora answered, as if it was the most obvious reply in the world. "You asked where Namine was, and I told you she's right here." Kairi turned to face him, her brow arching high in confusion. She was still loosely holding the charm, which now rested in her lap. Sora's grin seemed to stretch, and he reached a hand out to poke the spot where her heart was.

"She's you. Namine is Kairi, and Kairi is Namine. There _is _no Somebody and Nobody, there's just Kairi. Her memories and feelings are yours, and vice versa, because you're both the same person. Neat, huh?"

Kairi blinked at the boy sitting in front of her, still wearing that annoyingly infectious smile. For a moment, she could see Roxas, Sora's Nobody, sitting and smiling softly at her – at Namine. And Kairi smiled.

Sora was right. There was no Nobody, there was just Kairi. You could put her in a different body, with different hair colour and different eye colour and different _everything_, but it would still be Kairi. Maybe not in shape, form, or name, but it would be her. It would still be her.

"Yeah," Kairi giggled. "Neat."

In that moment, Kairi felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she suddenly felt like the world had made a bit more sense. No matter where she was, who she is, or what shape she took, Kairi would always be Kairi. And it would stay that way.

Sneaking a look to the boy beside her, who was now twirling her Paopu charm between his fingers, Kairi smiled. Because no matter where they were, who they are, and what shape each of them took, the two of them would always be together, through thick and thin. Whether their connection was tied by a single object, or by a single person, Kairi knew that they would always be there for each other.

"_There _you guys are! I've been looking all over the place for you. We booked a study session today, remember?"

Sora and Kairi's heads turned towards the docks, seeing Riku with his arms crossed and a stern glare in his eyes.

"Oh crap!" Sora cursed, jumping up and running to the silver-haired teenager. "I got so caught up in looking for Kairi that I forgot!" Riku's eyebrow rose, and he chuckled, jumping down to untie a boat from the planks. Kairi let a grin crack over her face, and she stood up, dusting the sand from her clothes to walk towards them.

"Looking for her? Don't you mean, getting her? It's always going to kill me, how you guys seem to always know where the other is. I swear it's like you share the same mind or something."

Kairi suddenly froze in mid-step, eyes widening as she realized what Riku had just said.

'… _like you share the same mind or something…_'

'… _or something…_'

'… _or something…_'

Not the same mind, the same _heart_!

In order to give Kairi her heart back, Sora had unlocked _his own heart_ because their hearts were one in the same! Her heart was lying inside Sora's body all this time, and when he used the dark keyblade to free her, their hearts had already fused to the point of becoming one big heart! Namine and Roxas were born when Sora had unlocked _their _heart, which explains why Namine was able to control Sora's memories. She's Kairi's Nobody, who shared Sora and Kairi's heart. It made sense!

It seemed to make so much sense, that Kairi burst out laughing on the spot.

"Kairi?" Riku questioned, stepping forward to look down at her. Sora blinked, also a bit confused. He jogged to stand beside the giggling Kairi, resting a hand on her shoulder. He looked a bit worried.

"Kai?"

The Princess of Hearts settled down, peeking at her two best friends. Her gaze lingered on the brown-haired keyblade master, before she pushed past the both of them to head to the boat. A great smile danced on her lips.

"That's so stupid, Riku!" Kairi shouted, sticking a tongue out at the older teenager. "No one can possibly share the same mind." Sora and Riku looked at each other, shrugging before running to catch up to their female friend. She was acting kind of strange today.

Kairi climbed into the boat, and Riku and Sora followed after her. Riku grabbed the paddles, rowing out of the docks while his two other friends relaxed for a few minutes. They had agreed to take turns rowing, and Riku offered to go first. It wasn't until Sora took hold of the paddles did Kairi turn to look back at the island filled with memories of a group of three rowdy kids, a dream with a raft, and the start of a great adventure that would change their lives drastically.

And Kairi couldn't help but smile, because she knew that there would be many more to come. More journeys, more troubles, more memories. More times for the three of them to cherish, together. A little part of Kairi began to hope that somewhere along the way of they're big quest, she would be able to tell him how she really felt. She would be able to say, "I love you Sora".

Kairi sighed, and then she realized Sora had sighed at the exact same time she had.

"Seriously, same mind!" Riku exclaimed, laughing between his words. Kairi reached out, smacking the silver-haired keyblade master in the arm to make him stop. With a grin wider than Sora's, Kairi turned back to stare at the slowly shrinking Island of Destiny.

"No, not the same mind." Kairi told him, making Sora and Riku look at her back puzzlingly. "We're just…"

A picture of Namine popped up in her head, and the girl was smiling at her.

'_I'm right here._'

"We're just two sides of the same heart, that's all."


End file.
